Coming with nearly thousand cut diamonds presented on top of intricate woven gold, these two latest jewelry watches from Jaeger Lecoultre are indeed intended for those of you who are very into luxurious stuff. These two watch jewelry named Snowdrop 101 and Bangle 101 are equipped with a tiny movement, the Caliber 101.
Introduced in 1929, the Caliber 101 has the size smaller than micro sim card. Measuring just 14mm x 4.8mm x 3.4mm, it has held the record for world’s smallest hand-wound mechanical movement in the world since its launch.
It is alleged that only a handful of watchmakers at Jaeger-LeCoultre have the skills to create and assemble the Caliber 101, where nearly every component has to be custom made by hand. So, the amount of production is very limited.
On average, there are only about 50 Caliber 101 that can be made in a year. Because of its very small size, this movement is most often found on women’s watches and also watches jewelry such as the Snowdrop and Bangle models.
On the Snowdrop model, there are 904 pear-shaped diamonds and brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 20.9 carats that are beautifully glued to the thin pink gold bracelet.
This watch uses the ‘griffe’ and grain-setting technique. The first technique uses metal so that light can pass through the diamond and give it a very beautiful sparkle, while the second technique features small gold beads and encourages the diamond to stay in place.
The diamonds are arranged to look like petals radiating from the dial, featuring the bell-shaped floral display of Vallee de Joux blooming through the snow, just like where Jaeger-LeCoultre is.
The Bangle model comes with a more flamboyant design that also has a ‘griffe’ and grain-setting technique in placing the diamonds. This pink gold watch features 996 diamonds totaling 19.7 carats. The difference is, this Bangle model is more of an art deco-style design.
Inside the watch is the fourth iteration of the Caliber 101 engine, Caliber 101/4, which consists of 98 parts and weighs just one gram. Although small, it ticks at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers 33 hours of power reserve to compete with much larger mechanical movements.
